Bangladesh to receive $2bln aid from ISFD to alleviate poverty

Dhaka, Aug 31 (UNI) Bangladesh will receive two billion dollar aid from the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) to implement poverty alleviation schemes.

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has designed 10 billion dollar fund to reduce poverty in its member countries under a 10-year programme.

''We've undertaken a massive initiative to alleviate poverty from the member countries including Bangladesh,'' IDB Group President Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali said today while addressing the 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL).

He is on a three-day visit to Bangladesh to exchange views with policy-makers and high officials on development issues and to see IDB-assisted development projects in the country.

''We'll have to go a long way to face the challenges of reducing poverty in Muslim countries, excepting few ones,'' Dr Ali said, adding that the 56-member IDB was working on how the condition of the poor people could be improved.

He said Bangladesh has set up a model of working with the poor and IDB would be very keen to replicate the model elsewhere, specially in Africa.

According to IDB, the ISFD is scheduled to commence operations on January 10 next year while the ISFD Board of Directors considered all possible options for mobilizing additional resources from member countries to build up adequate base capital for the Fund.

The ISFD was officially launched during the 32nd meeting of Board of Governors held on May 29-30 this year in Dakar, Senegal, in accordance with the resolutions of the Extraordinary Session of OIC Islamic Summit in Makkah in December 2005.

The OIC Summit had decided to establish a special Fund within the IDB with a view to reducing poverty.

The Fund has already received contributions from 21 member countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which have pledged one billion and 300 million dollars respectively.

Dr Ali said IDB is considering mobilise resources from international financial markets through issuing instruments like bonds to meet the growing need for investment in its member countries to reduce poverty.

The plan is in addition to the IDB's already announced Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) of 10 billion dollars, to be commenced on January 10 next year for the same purpose.

''IDB has a plan to go to market to mobilise more fund to meet the growing demand for poverty reduction in its member countries,'' Dr Ali said after signing three agreements with Bangladesh to provide financial assistance of over nine million dollars.

The loan will be spent on rural development project, feasibility study of a 150 MW combined cycle power plant and a 132 KV transmission line project.

Ali said the IDB, as the highly rated (AAA) institution would use its good office to mobilise resources from the market.

Unlike multilateral organisations such as World Bank and ADB, the IDB had never gone to the market for funds.

Finance Adviser Dr Aziz said that an IDB team would visit Bangladesh soon to assess the flood damage and decide their post-flood rehabilitation assistance to the country.

IDB has already provided a grant of 0.28 million dollar as emergency flood assistance and 1.50 million dollar for the post-flood rehabilitation activities.

UNI